We are Not Afraid
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”
—Psalms 46:1-5
I know life is hard. I am no stranger to trouble. But what I am living through now is a crisis. Friends and family near and far are all living in crisis at the same time.
This pandemic has made life so hard for us that we cannot visit our loved ones, we cannot go to the doctor and get treatment, we cannot give those we have lost a proper burial, neither can we go to the places that usually offer us the care, comfort, community we need. Each time the phone rings dread hearing news that someone is sick or someone had died.
We are forever changed in this moment. And although deliverance is already at hand, our lives will never be the same again. Yet this is not God’s first rodeo. Long ago, our ancestors left us a trail that could show us where to run to in times like these.
Times like these are times we have never experienced before. Times like these cannot be accurately describes with words, yet the writer of Psalm 46 seems to understand what we are going through, as if times like these are no surprise to God. The earth is giving way and the mountains are falling into the heart of the sea, and its waters are roaring and foaming and the mountains are quaking because of the sea’s surges.
Jesus said it best (Matt. 7:24-27), the rain is coming down and the floods are rising up, and right now our foundation is being tested. But those who know their lives are built on a solid rock will not fall. Those who know that “God is their refuge and strength and an ever-present help in trouble”, they are not afraid!
We know that their is a river, an eternally flowing presence of refreshment, that flows into the holy place where the Most High dwells. That place that God is within, that place where God’s help is found. That place is the omnipresence of God. That place will not fall.
I’ve learned that as long as I can get to that place, I’ve got nothing to fear. And as long as that place exists, no calamity is to great for me to handle. If the mountains quake, all I’ve got to do is run to the refuge. If the earth beneath me gives way, all I’ve got to do ask God for strength. If the waters around me begin to rage, all I’ve got to do is look for my ever-present help.
We know life is hard. We are no stranger to trouble. But what I am living through now is a crisis. Friends and family near and far are all living in crisis at the same time. We’ve never experienced anything like this before, yet because we know that the God who specializes in these kind of moments is always with us, we are not afraid!
God, our ever-present help in the times of trouble,
Thank you for making yourself available to us at anytime and at any place. We thank you for delivering us from previous trouble, but right now we are going through something right now that we could’ve never imagined would happened. So many people need you right now, we need your strength, we need your protection, we need your healing. We need your blessing, God. If you simply only speak the word we would be healed. So we ask for your word. We ask for your help through these times of trouble. Help us Lord, in was that only you could accomplish. We cannot get through this without you, and I thank you that we don’t have to because you are always with us. In Jesus Name, Amen.